


but i think i'm ready as long as you're with me

by saccarines (orphan_account)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Multiple Personalities, Sort of? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-03-29
Packaged: 2018-01-17 10:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1383601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/saccarines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers is a sap, but that's not news to James. //<span class="small"> technically movieverse but no references are made so it could be anything</span></p>
            </blockquote>





	but i think i'm ready as long as you're with me

**Author's Note:**

> I like the idea that there isn't a be-all end-all cure for the Winter Soldier, but I also like happy endings so. This is basically James sharing his head with Bucky and The Winter Soldier and things are surprisingly not terrible. 
> 
> [title](http://thelittlestcrane.tumblr.com/post/80724420965/being-as-in-love-with-you-as-i-am) song.
> 
>  **Edit** : I changed Yasha to Kolya after reading [this post](http://caughtinanocean.tumblr.com/post/71487710917/hello-class-today-i-would-like-to-tell-you-why), and I think it's worth the read for anyone who calls the Winter Soldier "Yasha" simply because they've seen it around (like I did).

James isn’t Bucky – he’ll tell anyone and everyone as often as he needs to. James isn’t Bucky, and though Natasha still calls him Kolya he isn’t him either. He’s not entirely the Winter Soldier, but he’s not entirely  _not_  the Winter Soldier.

James isn’t Bucky, but there are some things about Bucky that he can’t shake. Specifically, the way he’s so damn protective over Steve. James likes Steve just as much as Bucky does, but…well, there should be  _limits_ , right? Steve is  _Captain America_ , and James never feels that pinch of protectiveness when he’s jumping off rooftops to tackle flying enemies or going across country lines for missions.

(He does, sometimes, feel a bit of admiration that feels like it belongs to the Soldier, when Steve does those things. He’s getting better now, at pinpointing who is feeling what in his goddamn crowded head.)

The Winter Soldier feels deeper, like he’s buried somewhere inside James. He’s less angry than he used to be, though James still lapses into Russian when he’s irritated or genuinely interested in something. The Soldier respects Steve, but he’s…there’s not a great word for it. He’s possessive of Steve, too. Steve saved him from the Red Room. Steve is  _his_.

(Steve just tilts his head, when James tells him over lunch that the Winter Soldier is obsessed with him. He asks if that means he’s still aiming to kill him, and James tells him it’s not that kind of obsessed.)

Bucky feels…painful. His feelings are sharp, angry lines that cut through James’ head. They come out of nowhere, a driving force of clarity that’s too strong to be just a memory.  _I like this_ , when he picks up Thoreau.  _I’m good at this_ , when he picks up his weapon.  _We need this_ , when he has lunch with Steve.  

(When James tells Steve it feels like Bucky’s kicking his ass, Steve just nods and says it sounds a lot like something Bucky would do.)

Bucky’s desire to protect Steve is, unfortunately, mostly reserved for interactions of the romantic element. If someone is standing too close to Steve, or looking at him like he’s a regular Adonis, or clearly only talking to him because they think he’s attractive or they know he’s a hero-

Bucky  _loathes_  that.

(Bucky was the only one who looked at Steve like that before he went and became Captain America, so one else has the  _right_ -)

James doesn’t like it either.

Steve is too nice to tell people to back the fuck off, but James knows he hates when people only see him as an icon. Even during the War, Steve didn’t like the way people looked at him like he was some kind of god. Bucky didn’t like it then, and he likes it less now that it happens ten times more often.

Steve turns down dates more often than the Avengers get called to action. His common excuse is that he’s too busy, but if someone pries he’ll tell them that he’s already interested in a few people.

 _A few people_.

(How is Steve Rogers even  _real?_  James often thinks.)

“You don’t  _have_  to like the Soldier,” James tells him, a lot, despite the deep rumbling of protest in his mind.”

“But I do,” Steve tilts his head like he doesn’t have a clue why James is telling him this. “How could I not?”

(There’s a rumble again; satisfaction, and a certain hint of smugness.)

“You don’t have to like me, either. It’s okay to only want Bucky.”

Steve frowns – he frowns a lot when James says things like that – “but I  _do_  like you. I like you, and I like the Winter Soldier, and I like Bucky. Heck, if you told me tomorrow that your name was Jimmy, I’d like him too.”

“Jesus H, Steve, you’ve got no sense of self-preservation.”

“You already knew that,” Steve shrugs.

(James knows a lot about Steve. James knows they’ll go home tonight, and Steve will press him into the sheets and he’ll tell each of them that he loves them.)

“Still…you  _like_  the Soldier? He tried to kill you.”

“How could I dislike any of you?” Steve asks. “You’re all… _you_. I mean, you make  _up_  you. I like all your parts.”

“I’ll  _bet_.”

“That,” Steve says lightly, “was definitely Bucky.”

“Yeah,” James agrees because it’s true. “To be fair,  _pretty_  sure the Soldier is thinking the same thing, except, you know, in Russian.”

“What’s that?”

James repeats it for him. “Not real pretty.”

Steve laughs, “I like when you speak Russian.”

“You just like when I’m talking.”

“Well,  _yeah_ ,” Steve smiles. “I’m not going to deny that.”

“My  _god_ , Rogers, you are such a sap.”

“I know at least  _one_  of you is,” Steve nudges his foot under the table, “so-”

“If you say we match, I swear I will destroy every rom-com that team of yours has you watching.”

“We match.”

James groans – feels Bucky groaning along with him – but he can’t help the smile that pulls on the corners of his lips, nor can he help the warmth bubbling up in his chest.

“ _Sap_.”

“Only for you,” Steve says cheerily.

Bucky’s streak of protectiveness and the Soldier’s streak of possessiveness flare up a bit at that, and if James feels a little of both himself, well that’s alright too.

 


End file.
